this week, the smooth sounds of charin nanthanakhon, crooning the bangkok blues! charin, originally from the northern city of chiang mai, first came to the capital for university. it was at this time that he began musical career under the tutelage of salai krailoet, famous violinist and composer for the luk krung circle. charin was famous not only in the music world but for his acting as well; originally a theatre performer, he made his mark especially in the film world; as actor, director and husband to preeminent film icon phetchara chaowarat[1]. this tape is the second volume in a series of hit collections, featuring some of his original classic performances. enjoy!

given the festive time of year that's underway, in much of mainland southeast asia, it seemed only right to share this classic album of what is possibly thai music's quintessential sound of celebration; the rhythms of the klong yao (long drum) troupe! although the artists go uncredited on the cassette, i feel confident enough to say that they are the sak sinlapin group, who made several recordings for the sri krung label in the 1970s. from the heavy percussion, yodels, cheers & hollers to the humorous call & response choruses, everything on here spells a good time. interestingly, the second side even finds some piphat orchestration added to the mix. enjoy & happy new year!

enchanting songs of thailand

a collection of great music made by the people of thailand; luk thung, luk krung, molam, regional folk styles & more. mostly recorded from tape, sound quality should be pretty good (unless stated otherwise). transliteration is done using the royal thai general system of transcription. feedback/re-upload requests/etc. always appreciated!